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Football season is less than 100 days away. The Southeastern Conference's football media days are less than a month away.

To get primed for the 2014 football season, I'll be doing my own two-a-days, breaking down two positions each day on the Mississippi State blog. After a week of two-a-days, we'll dive into the 25 most important Bulldogs of the 2014 season.

It was one of Mississippi State's deepest units last year. This year shouldn't be much different, but there's a hole to fill in the starting lineup.

Deontae Skinner was MSU's most consistent defender last year. He was second on the team in tackles with 64. He was the only Bulldogs to record at least three tackles in every game he played.

He's now moved on to the New England Patriots. There's a number of ways Mississippi State can replace him by utilizing some redshirt sophomores in a number of ways.

Beniquez Brown

Beniquez Brown enters his third year at Mississippi State and his second on the field.(Photo: AP)

The red-shirt sophomore closed last year's season strong. He averaged nearly five tackles a game in MSU's last five regular season games. The jitters from his first collegiate action clearly wore off.

He finished with a career-high nine tackles against Arkansas, which followed up six against Alabama (previously a career-high).

Brown spent a lot of time in the backfield as well. He finished with 4.5 tackles for loss. Only there four other players had more.

The 6-1, 225-pound linebacker worked his way onto the first team during spring practices. He worked well with starters Benardrick McKinney and Matt Wells. He's slightly in front of Richie Brown heading into the fall.

Brown saved his best performance for last in 2013. He tallied a career-high seven tackles against Ole Miss. He also had 1.5 sacks. That performance followed a four-tackle game against Arkansas.

Much like Beniquez, Richie played better as the season wore on. The Long Beach native admitted to nerves and confusion at the start of the season.

Richie leans more towards the role of a middle linebacker, which means he's responsible for the on-field calls when McKinney isn't on the field. His responsibilities extend to every defender on the field. Richie has to make sure all 11 Bulldogs are in the right spots at the snap of the ball.

In his third year in the program and second on the field, he should have a much better grasp of the calls to go with more confidence.

The Brown Brothers

It's a nickname given to Richie and Beniquez by defensive coordinator Geoff Collins. On the field the two are nearly interchangeable. Both are redshirt sophomore. Beniquez finished with 39 tackles last year. Richie tallied 38. So why not play both?

Mississippi State tried that in the spring. The defense shifted to a 3-4 formation. The Bulldogs are built for it. Chris Jones clogged up the middle with Preston Smith and Ryan Brown on the outside. McKinney, Wells, Richie and Beniquez stood at the second line of defense.Instead of rotating through four linebackers that possess starter-talent, Collins might throw all four on the field at the same time.

The fact that MSU even has the option to do this will give offensive coordinators something extra to prepare for in practice.

Don't Sleep On…

Mississippi State linebacker Zack Jackson could step into the role left by Deontae Skinner.(Photo: USA Today)

Richie and Beniquez are the obvious choices but the linebacking unit is a deep one again. Zach Jackson is right behind the Brown Brothers, if not in the same category. The junior played well to end his sophomore season.

He tallied five tackles against Arkansas to go with two more vs. Ole Miss. Jackson had an outstanding spring.

He wasn't alone. Dez Harris followed suit. He hasn't played competitive football since his junior season in high school (injury, redshirt) but he looked ready to make a statement with the way he played in April.